Chair’s Welcome

Welcome to the Department of Economics and Finance. Our department houses both Economics and Finance, which provides our students with the best-possible background for a wide-variety of jobs in local, state, and federal government as well as various financial markets and institutions. Our curriculum is designed so that our graduates will succeed in their chosen professional career in the field of Economics and Finance.

Our faculty and staff are dedicated to provide an excellent educational experience for our students. Faculty members in our department are high-caliber in teaching, research, and practical experience. They are dedicated to student learning and success as well as to their research agenda. Under the Faculty and Staff button on the left you’ll meet our faculty and staff and read about the accomplishments of our faculty. Under the Working Papers button, you will see our faculty’s wide-ranging research interests.

Our courses are diverse as well, encompassing corporate finance, investment, and risk management on the Finance side and prominent micro- and macroeconomic subjects such as Labor, International, and Public Sector Economics on the Economics side. You’ll find the descriptions of our undergraduate and graduate courses on the left.

You can also obtain your Master's degree in Economics and Finance in only twelve months. Our 4-plus-1 formula provides a great opportunity for our students to progress from a freshman to a Master's candidate in only five years.

Any of our degrees opens up a great variety of job opportunities for students. Please review the information under the Careers for Economists button to learn what kind of jobs economics and finance professional usually get and what their average salaries are.

Most of our graduates with a Bachelor’s degree work for well-known corporations and financial companies such as Boeing, Emerson, Sigma Aldrich, Edward Jones, Wells Fargo, Stifel Nicolaus, Bank of Edwardsville, and First Cloverleaf Bank. Some find jobs in the public sector. Some of them are interested in an academic career and continue with their education toward their Master’s and Ph.D. degrees.

Most of our graduates with a Master’s degree in Economics and Finance find lower-level management jobs graduation in the above-mentioned fields. Additionally, this degree opens the door to doctoral programs in Economics and Finance, as it’s been the case for some of our students who are interested in an academic career.

I hope that you’ll take a few minutes to explore our programs. Please feel free to contact me or any of our faculty if you have any questions.